Farrell: Large game companies need to adopt a start-up approach in order to survive

THQ’s Brian Farrell feels that in order for a large company to succeed in the current market, it needs to do business more like a start-up; therefore, THQ has decided to rethink its business strategy an behave in a like manner.

“You really have to act like a startup, think like a startup within the company in order to survive,” Farrell said during the GamesBeat 2011 conference in San Francisco. “You have to adapt to be able to survive.”

Farrell said one of the main reasons for companies to adopt this form of business strategy, is due to the market’s demand for mobile games which cost around $1 and the influx of free-to-play titles.

“The dedicated handheld market is gonna find an audience but it isn’t gonna be as broad because of the competition from other operating systems,” he said. “What the market is telling us, is consumers want a very quickly consumable mobile experience, it doesn’t necessarily have to be deep.”

Farrell is of the belief that the next generation of consoles will embrace service over technology due to the changing market.